Dream Dwellers
by ficfemme413
Summary: James Potter is caught in his childhood, Lily Evans hides in her books. When will they learn that it does not do to dwell on dreams?
1. Wonderful News!

Hullo! This is only my second time at posting fanfiction, and I'm both excited, and extremely nervous. This first chapter might be a little rough, but I'm hoping it will get better as it continues. Fingers crossed. The first chapter is my way of introducing you to Lily Evans, rather, my interpretation of her character. The second chapter will probably be from James' PoV, but nothing is set in stone just yet. So, please read and review. And remember, be gentle. Thank you!

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It was the first day of school, and Lily could hardly wait for her alarm to go off. She had been up for hours, if she had gone to sleep at all, but it seemed to her as though 6 o'clock would never come.

Biting her lip, she opened her clenched eyes and dared to glance at the time. It read 5:49 a.m. Grumbling about the uselessness of alarm clocks, she hopped out of bed and made for the bathroom. As she climbed the stool in front of the bathroom counter, she could not help but worry about her appearance. Emerald eyes scrutinized her own out of the mirror. She was short, abnormally short, even. _What if I'm the shortest in my class? I think I would die of embarrassment!_ Her long red hair hung wildly about her shoulders. _Whoever heard of a popular girl with red hair? Why couldn't I have pretty brown curls like Tuney?_ And her lavender pyjamas hung loosely over her slender frame. _I will definately NOT be bringing these to school! People would laugh at the tiny yellow suns all over them!_

After she had finished making herself look presentable, she dashed back to her bedroom across the hall and ripped open her closet doors. A few, drab scraps of clothing hung from wire hangers- aside from that, all of her other clothes had been packed in her school trunk for weeks. _How could I have been so stupid? Now what am I going to wear?_ She was spared the pain of pulling out her hair by the obnoxious ring of her useless alarm clock. _Oh, NOW you go off!_ She would have sprinted to her bedside table to shut it off, but her mother beat her to it.

''Good morning Lily. Did you sleep well?'' she asked as she sat down on the bed, hands folded, in her pretty blue nightgown.

''Morning mum, and well enough I suppose.'' Her mother's expression told her she wasn't buying it. ''Alright, alright. I barely slept a wink, I'm far too excited!'' She could hardly keep from grinning as she sat herself beside her mother, curling her legs beneath her.

''I'm excited too, Lily. Oh, I'll miss you so much, dear.'' Lily did her best not to cry as her mother drew her into a gentle hug. ''I'll miss you too mum. I really will.'' She bit her lip to hold the sobs in; she had never spent so much time away from home, and even though she wanted to go to school, she knew she would be terribly homesick.

''Your father and I are so proud of you, Lily dearest.''

''I know...I-I just wish that Tuney were proud, too.'' Her older sister, Petunia, hadn't spoken to her in weeks- unless you count screaming.

''She is proud of you dear, she's just-''

''No she isn't! She's said so before! She hates me! She hates me because I'm different!'' She could no longer contain the tears. The memory of her sister slamming the door in her face screaming 'freak!' resonated in her mind. Her sister hated her, all because she was special.

At the beginning of the summer, Lily Evans awoke to a most unexpected sound. Something was tapping the glass of her window. She threw her pillow over her eyes and attempted to fall back asleep. Which she would have done, if not for another unusual noise. This time the tapping was followed by a noise that Lily had not expected to hear that day: a hoot.

Her pillow fell to the ground as she shot upright in surprise. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she turned to see an owl perched outside her window. An _owl_ for heaven's sake! She contemplated throwing her slipper at the window to frighten it off, but she figured that that was only the grumpiness talking. So she went over to the window and, hesitantly, opened it and let the owl in. It was a beautiful thing, brown with a cream-coloured belly, and large, amber eyes. Those eyes looked at her expectantly- rather impatiently for that matter. Confused, she held out her hand toward it. _What on earth does it want me to do?_ And then it bit her.

_''Ouch! _What was that for?'' And then she saw that the owl had its leg extended towards her, showing the letter expertly tied to it. ''What's that you've got?'' She wondered if she were going crazy. _Isn't this something a crazy person would do- talk to random owls in the early morning?_

Ignoring her questions regarding her sanity, she untied the letter, and gave the bird a gentle pat on the head. It eyed her warily, as if something were terribly wrong with her. The owl flew out the open window as she opened the official-looking seal on the envelope.

''MUM, DAD!'' She could hardly stop herself from shouting. _This can't be true. I must be dreaming. This just CAN'T possibly be true!_ By the time her parents ran into her bedroom, she had already gotten a hold of herself, and sat quietly with a pleasant smile on her face.

''What is it Lily, are you alright?'' Her parents said, almost in unison. They were in a right state, she almost laughed aloud at the sight of them; her father had put on her mother's pink housecoat and her mother's hair resembled a lion's mane, they were both breathing heavily.

''I'm perfectly fine, really. In fact, I'm wonderful!'' They both exchanged nervous glances before looking back to their daughter, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed, calmly holding a folded piece of parchment.

''Lily, is there any reason you woke us up this early, or did you merely think it great fun to scare us half to death?'' Her father still looked worried, and he sounded exhausted. Guilt spread over her face, and her pleasant smile turned into a small pout.

''I'm sorry I woke you, really, it's just that...I-I have wonderful news and I couldn't wait to tell you both, I'm so excited I just can't tell you or explain how I feel...'' More nervous glances were exchanged as Lily continued to speak without seeming to stop, even for a breath.

''Lily, Lily, stop it dear. You're doing it again. Just take a breath, and tell us what happened.'' She hadn't noticed, but in her excitement she had stood up and begun to pace. Her mother put both hands on either of her small shoulders and steered her over to the bed. ''Tell us, what is your wonderful news, pumpkin?''

She hesitated, _Will they believe me? _Her hesitation only lasted half a second, _Of course they'll believe me, I'm their daughter and they love me._ And so, she launched into her story about the owl on her windowsill and how it bit her, and about the pretty bow that held the letter to the owl's leg, and- finally- about the letter itself.

''Mum, dad, I'm a witch.''

She remembered how happy her parents had been; their daughter, Lily Diane Evans, was magical! The three of them couldn't contain their excitement as they contemplated what magic was like.

And then, as a knife to cake, Tuney's voice cut through their happiness: ''What's going on? You're all very loud, don't you know? Some of us are trying to sleep!'' Her tone reflected how she felt; miffed. She must have been eavesdropping.

''Tuney, your sister has wonderful news!'' Clearly their mother didn't see the sour expression on Petunia's face, perhaps she was still too happy to notice.

But Lily had noticed and, even though she didn't know why, she proceeded with caution. ''Tuney, I've just got a letter, this letter-'' she held it out to her, showing the beautiful emerald script, ''it says...well, it says I'm a witch. I'm going to a school called Hogwarts, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'' For a very long moment the room was quiet. Silent, Petunia walked over to her sister and kissed her on the cheek.

''That's terrific news Lil! I'm so happy for you!'' After that, Lily's bedroom was filled with hugs and laughter. Still, Lily couldn't help but feel that Tuney wasn't so happy about this, not at all.

Later, she had found out that her suspicions were right. Petunia had written to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore his name was, begging him to admit her into the school with her sister. She must have known that this would be impossible for him to do, only magical people can go to Hogwarts, she must have known. Since then, Tuney had been nothing but cruel to her; she would yell at her, call her names, but the worst of it was when she ignored her. Lily loved her sister, couldn't Tuney just be happy for her?

''Your sister will come around, you'll see. Now, what are you going to wear on your very first day of school?'' Her mother dragged her over to her closet, sufficiently dragging her from her revery.

After her mother had scrounged some clothing from the top of her suitcase, Lily quickly dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. The smell of butter on english muffins almost made her drool. ''Now, now, not on your clean outfit.'' Sometimes she thought her mother had super powers, namely mind-reading powers.

''What if no one likes me? I don't know about this shirt, d'you think I should change?'' Her mother simply smiled and let her continue on with her rant.

''How many students go to Hogwarts? One of them is bound to like you. I think that shirt looks lovely on you, dear. Stop worrying Lily. And stop fussing with your hair, I've never seen you so concerned about your looks. Everything is going to be fine.'' Her mother walked over, kissed her on the top of her head, and walked away with a knowing smile on her face.

_Maybe she's right. I am worrying too much. No one is going to care what shirt I wear! Even if they do, those that matter don't mind, and those that mind don't matter, right? Then why do I feel so nervous?_

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_Thank you so much for reading! Please review, whether good or bad- I still want to know! Let me know if I should continue on! :D_


	2. Bats and Emeralds

Hullo again! This is basically part 2 to chapter 1! Meaning, this is my introduction to James Potter. They're both in first year at this point, but I'm not sure how old they will be in my next update. Read and Review, please! :D

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He could never understand how muggles lived the way they did. _I mean, honestly, how do they survive without magic?_ There were loads of them, everywhere; running about with their trolleys, wearing their rediculous muggle clothing. Actually, now that he thought about it, their style wasn't so bad- it beats parading around in a dress all day.

He was concentrating fixedly on one woman, wondering how she could possibly manage to walk in shoes so tall- when he bumped into the person in front of him. Oh, that person happened to be his mother.

''James! Watch where you're going, darling. We don't want you to be late, do we?''

''Mum, where exactly _are _we going?'' If he'd had a hand to spare, he'd have pushed his glasses up his slender nose, or possibly run his fingers through his black, messy hair. This, however, would prove impossible, as his hands were currently busy trying not to run anyone over with his over large, and overstuffed trolley.

''Platform Nine and Three Quarters, dear. Just look for platforms Nine and Ten. And, please, do watch what you're doing with your trolley dear, we don't want to attract too much attention.'' Mrs. Potter glanced nervously around at the innocent muggles desperately trying to avoid a collision. It's a good thing she was tall, or else James would have never been able to see her in this crowd.

''James? James! Where are you? Oh, there you are, darling! I thought I'd lost you! Couldn't see you in this crowd.'' The crease in her forehead softened as she placed her hand on the small of his back and gently pushed him forward. ''It's that way, dearest.''

''You'd have been able to find me if I weren't so damned short.'' He tried to make it sound as if it didn't matter to him, but truly he was afraid of what people would think. _What if I'm shortest in my class?I couldn't show my face if that happened! _

''You're only eleven for Merlin's sake, you just wait till you're older; you'll be taller than your father, mark you. And do watch your language darling, we don't want you getting into trouble on your very first day of school, now do we?'' Her ramblings always made him smile, and he hoped more than _anything_ that what she said was true. _I just hope I fit in._ As for not getting into trouble, _I make no promises._

After the exhilarating, yet slightly terrifying experience of running through a four-metre brick wall, James Potter and his mother lined up alongside the train tracks with the other wizarding families. James couldn't help but feel slightly awkward. _I wish dad was here._

His mother seemed to have read his mind, ''Your father wanted to be here to see you off- but, you know how work is. He's always so busy at the Ministry, I doubt they'd survive without him.'' She looked so happy when she talked about him.

''Yeah, er, well it's good, then, that he's at work. Wouldn't want the Ministry to fall apart 'cause of me, would we?'' Taking advantage of his free hands, he ran his fingers through his hair to feel less awkward.

''I'll miss you so much Jamie, and so will your father.'' She had thrown her arms around him and started to sob quietly. Not wanting to make a scene, he murmured something along the lines of ''miss you too'' and gave her a halfhearted pat on the back.

She pulled away and looked him in the eyes, ''I want you to behave yourself Jamie. Your father and I are counting on you to do well.''

He knew he couldn't avoid this one anymore, so he conceded with a half true ''I'll do my best, mum.'' And, once again, ran his fingers nervously through his dark hair. Which his mother then tried to straighten out- she gave up almost immediately. _My hair is hopeless._

After kissing his mother goodbye one last time, James got on the train and headed for a compartment. He opened the first door he came to, and was terribly embarrassed to find himself staring at a group of pretty, fifth year girls. They were all staring questioningly at him. ''Sorry, so sorry. I'll, er, I'll leave you to your...yeah. Bye.'' He turned on his heel and walked straight out. He dared to glance at the glass door and saw that all of them were shaking with laughter. _I'm so stupid!_

Holding his breath, he glanced in the next compartment door- it was empty. Or, at least he thought it was.

''Oi! What d'you think you're doing? This compartment's already taken.''

Startled, James looked to the boy who was now glaring at him with a wicked expression. This boy had long, curly brown hair that cover most of his face, and he wore dark clothing, which looked as though they had once been expensive, but were now slightly ripped and worn.

''Huh? Oh, right then. Sorry, I'll just..go, then.'' As he, once again, turned on his heel and headed for the door, the boy started shaking with laughter.

''Ha! I was only joking. You can stay if you want- just don't make a sound or I'll have to kill you.'' He smiled wickedly as he said this, making James edge slowly towards the door.

''Ha! You should see the look on your mug! I'm only having a bit of fun. C'mon, sit down, really.'' He seemed to be smiling in earnest now, and he was repeatedly gesturing for James to sit down, so he did- but, just to be safe, he picked the farthest seat.

''My name's Sirius, what's yours?''

''It's James, James Potter. Are you a first year, too?''

''Yeah, I-'' Suddenly, the door to their compartment opened and two of the most mis-matched people walked in. The first was a boy- though, _He looks more like a bat, if you ask me._ His long, black hair fell in front of his face, so you could only see two beady black eyes and a long, protruding nose. His clothes were well worn and didn't match at all, and it seemed as though he was covered in grease. He had a sour expression on his face, and his eyes darted nervously from Sirius, to James and back.

The second was a girl; she had long, straight, red hair and very pale skin. She was wearing simple clothes- a lavender sweater and blue jeans- but she still looked as though she had planned every part of her outfit. James couldn't tell whether she was annoyed, or embarrassed to find the compartment already filled. He couldn't tell what she was thinking at all. All he knew was that she had the most beautiful, green eyes he had ever seen; they were like emeralds. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair.


End file.
